JPH1185948A - Information processing device and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly and easily prepare a map at the time of combining a specific symbol such as a ruled line with a character, and expressing a map constituted of a text. SOLUTION: A map is prepared by a map data preparing part 5 by using the constituting elements of the map. Next, a corresponding chart in which character codes are made correspond to the constituting elements of the map is referred to. Then, the constituting elements of the prepared map are converted into fonts indicated by the character codes corresponding to the constituting elements by a text converting part 7, and the converted result is outputted by a code outputting part 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for creating a map represented by a font indicated by a character code and a method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, text documents using only characters and symbols are used in applications such as the Internet and personal computer communications such as e-mail and net news. In some cases, a binary document can be attached. However, if the other party cannot decrypt the binary document, or if it is unclear whether the decryption is possible, a text document must be used.

In such a text document, a map is often expressed by combining characters and special symbols such as ruled lines as shown in FIG. Conventionally, in order to input such symbols and characters, (1) input directly from a keyboard. (2) Input by Kana-Kanji conversion. For symbols, enter the name and convert it to a symbol. (3) A list of symbols is displayed, and a desired symbol is selected from the list. Such methods are used.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned method (1) has a limit because special characters useful for expressing a map, such as the above-mentioned conventional ruled lines, cannot be usually directly input with a keyboard. In the method (2), when inputting one symbol or character, it is necessary to move a cursor to a target position, input a desired symbol name with a key, and further input a conversion key. It was troublesome.

Further, in the above method (3), it is troublesome to find a target symbol from a list of symbols. For example, a list of symbols is usually displayed in the order of character codes or classified according to types such as arithmetic symbols and ruled lines, and not all symbols used in a map are displayed simultaneously on the screen. Also, even a series of roads and tracks,
To represent winding roads and tracks, vertical lines, horizontal lines, and diagonal lines had to be entered separately.

Further, when editing a created map, the editing work is very troublesome. For example, when moving a group of figures, cut and paste must be repeated for each line. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is an information processing apparatus that can quickly and easily create a map when expressing a map composed of text by combining special symbols and characters such as ruled lines and characters. And a method thereof.

[0007]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following arrangement.
That is, an information processing apparatus that creates a map represented by a font indicated by a character code, using a storage unit that stores a correspondence table in which a character code is associated with a map element, and using the map element. Creating means for creating a map, and output means for referring to the correspondence table, converting the constituent elements of the map created by the creating means into a font indicated by a character code corresponding to the constituent element, and outputting the converted font. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

Preferably, the constituent elements of the map include at least a track, a road, an intersection, and a place name. Preferably, the creating means has a drawing area for drawing a map, and inputs a desired component of the map into the drawing area to create a map. Also, preferably, the drawing area is configured to be divided for each predetermined unit area, and the creating unit, for each of the predetermined unit areas,
A map is created by inputting the components of the map.

[0009] Preferably, the constituent elements of the map input to the predetermined unit area correspond to one character code. An information processing method according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, an information processing method for creating a map represented by a font indicated by a character code, comprising: a creation step of creating a map using map components; and a correspondence process in which a character code is associated with the map components. An output step of referring to a table, converting the constituent elements of the map created by the creating means into a font indicated by a character code corresponding to the constituent element, and outputting the converted font.

A computer readable memory according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is,
A computer-readable memory storing a program code of information processing for creating a map represented by a font indicated by a character code, the program code of a creating step of creating a map using constituent elements of the map, A program code for an output step of converting a component of the map created by the creating means into a font indicated by the character code corresponding to the component and outputting the result by referring to a correspondence table in which the component is associated with a character code. And

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the CPU 107 includes a main bus 114
The control of the entire information processing apparatus is executed via the. Further, C
The PU 107 performs image input, image processing, image output control, and the like according to an instruction input from an input device (for example, the digitizer 102 integrated with the keyboard 104, the mouse 105, and the pen 13) via the input I / F 106. Is executed.

The memory 111 stores an OS by the CPU 107.
And other control programs including a control program for realizing the present invention are loaded and executed. In addition, it functions as a work area and a temporary save area for various data used for executing the control program. HDD108
Stores large amounts of programs and data. The network I / F 109 is an interface for exchanging data with other peripheral devices connected via the network 113. The CD-ROM 112 is a read-only removable storage medium, and stores, for example, the control program of the present invention.

The display I / F 110 is an interface for controlling display of a display. The display 103 displays a data processing process, a processing result, and the like, and includes a CRT or an LCD. Further, it can be configured integrally with the digitizer 102. An example in which a map as shown in FIG. 3 is transmitted by e-mail using the information processing apparatus having the above hardware configuration will be described. In addition, e-mail can handle only text in principle. Therefore, in the information processing apparatus, for example, a map as shown in FIG. 3 is created in the manner of a graphic tool, and then the created map is converted into a map composed of text as shown in FIG.

Next, a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the display 103
Upper, grid-like character input area 1 as shown in FIG.
000, a menu area 1001, and a conversion button 1002 to be described later. Then, when an input from a user is received using the above-described input device, a map is created according to the input.

In FIG. 4, when a user makes an input using an input device, the coordinate input unit 1 receives the input.
This input is detected by one of the character input area detection unit 2, the menu detection unit 3, and the conversion button detection unit 4 according to the content of the input. For example, pen 10
1, when a straight line or a curve is drawn in the character input area 1000, the map data creating unit 5
The map data is created on the basis of the line type information selected in and the moving direction information of the pen 101 in each character input area. The memory storage unit 6 writes the data in the memory 111 as data for each square on the map created on the character input area 1000. The map graphic display unit 10
Based on the data written in the memory 111, the data is displayed on the display 103 as a graphic. As a result, a map represented by a graphic as shown in FIG. 3 can be drawn.

When the input of the conversion button 1002 is detected, the text conversion unit 7 converts the data written in the memory 111 into symbols or characters. The code output unit 8 adds necessary blank codes and line feed codes to these character codes, and outputs them sequentially. The text document display unit 9 displays these character code fonts as text on the screen. As a result, a map represented only by the fonts of symbols and characters as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed.

At this time, the display shown in FIG. 3 may be displayed on the display 103 after the map shown in FIG. 3 is turned off, or the map shown in FIG. 3 and the map shown in FIG. At the same time. Next, a specific example of the processing executed by the map data creation unit 5 will be described. Of the nine areas shown in FIG. 6, 8 other than the central area
For example, if there is an input from the pen 101 in this area, this is detected and interpreted as a line drawn in the corresponding direction in FIG. For example, in FIG. 6, if the pointing device moves from the left area to the upper right area via the center area, a leftward line and an upper rightward line in FIG. 7 are drawn.

When a line in another direction is drawn in the character input area 1000 on which the line is already displayed, the line intersects. Further, when a line in the same direction is drawn, the already displayed line is erased and replaced with a new line. At this time, if the eraser icon shown in the menu area 1001 is selected, the already displayed line is deleted.

Next, a specific example of the processing executed by the memory storage unit 6 will be described. Each of the eight directions shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to one of the five types (including none) shown in FIG. Therefore, one character input area 1
000 can take 5 8 power states. This state is stored on the memory 111 as shown in FIG. 9, for example. In this case, a display shown in FIG. 10 is made in the character area 1000.

Next, a specific example of the processing executed by the text converter 7 will be described. Here, 38 special symbols in FIG. 11 are used as characters representing the line types in FIG. These special symbols are changed according to the direction of the line (A) to
(N) is classified into 14 types. The state of one character on the memory 111 is 8
Focusing on the presence or absence of each line in the direction, there can be 2 <8> states. Of these, those corresponding to the above 14 types may be directly associated.

Other states are assigned to similar shape types by the following procedure. First, it is checked whether or not the line is composed only of diagonal lines (upper left, lower left, upper right, lower right). In the case of being constituted only by lines in the oblique direction, it is classified into any of the types (L) to (N).

[0022] Of the types (L) to (N), when only the line descending to the right is used, that is, only in the upper left direction, only in the lower right direction, and only in the upper left and lower right directions. In this case, it is classified into type (L). A case composed only of lines rising to the right, that is, only in the lower left direction, only in the upper right direction, and only in the lower left and upper right directions, is classified as type (M). If a line that descends to the right and a line that rises to the right are mixed, it is classified as type (N).

On the other hand, when it is not constituted only by the line in the oblique direction, it is classified into any of the types (A) to (K). In the case of classification into types (A) to (K), horizontal and vertical lines and oblique lines may be mixed in the original state on the memory 111, but there is no corresponding character font. Therefore, in that case, diagonal lines are omitted. That is, in the case of types (A) to (K), even if there are oblique lines, they are not counted, and only horizontal and vertical lines are considered.

Of the types (A) to (K), in the case of four directions in the vertical and horizontal directions, that is, in the case of including a line in the left direction, the right direction, the upward direction, and the downward direction, it is classified into the type (K). In the case of three vertical and horizontal directions, that is, three of the left, right, up, and down directions
If it contains two lines, type (G) ~
(J). In the case of each of the vertical and horizontal directions, that is, in the case of including one of the upward and downward lines and one of the left and right lines, the types (C) to (F) are determined according to the direction. To each of them. The case of only the vertical direction, that is, the case of only the upward direction, the case of only the downward direction, and the case of only the upward direction and the downward direction are classified into type (B). The case of only the horizontal direction, that is, the case of only the left direction, the case of only the right direction, and the case of only the left direction and the right direction are classified into type (A).

After the states on the memory 111 are classified into any of the types (A) to (N), an appropriate character is assigned according to the line type. First of all, the double line and the thick line alternately appear on the railway line.
If the sum of the row number and column number of 000 is even, it is converted to a double line, and if it is odd, it is converted to a thick line. If the character does not have a double line depending on the direction, the character is converted to a thick line. Furthermore,
If the character does not have a thick line, it is converted to a thin line.

The case of inputting a line is as described above. On the other hand, when a character such as a place name is to be input, a character input mode is selected in the menu area 1001 of FIG. Then, the character input area 1 to be input
By designating 000 with the pen 101, characters can be input from the keyboard 104. In addition, by providing a character recognizing unit, it is possible to directly write and recognize a character in the character input area 1000.

When the area selection mode is selected in the menu area 1001 in FIG. 5 and one or more character input areas 1000 are surrounded by the pen 101 with a line of an arbitrary shape, the area can be selected. It is also possible to edit the area. For example, when one or more character input areas 1000 are selected, by dragging the knitting 101, the map information displayed in the selected area can be moved in the drag direction.

In addition, by adding a command to the menu area 1001 or using a gesture (command input by recognizing the movement of the pointing device by a graphic) or the like, various areas such as area deletion and cut and paste can be used. Can edit. Finally, the processing executed in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing executed in the embodiment according to the present invention. First, step S
At 100, a desired map is created using the display screen shown in FIG. Next, in step S101, the components of the map input to each character input area 1000 in FIG. 4 are analyzed. The details of this analysis are as described above. Next, in step S102, a character code corresponding to a component of the map is obtained according to the analysis result. In step S103, the font indicated by the obtained character code is displayed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a map can be freely created as if it were a graphic tool, without being aware of the restriction that text must be input when inputting. In the present embodiment, after writing the map represented by the graphic as shown in FIG. 3, by instructing the conversion button 1002 shown in FIG. 5, the map is converted into the map represented by the text shown in FIG. 2. I did it. This conversion was realized by the conversion button detection unit 4 shown in FIG. Instead of this, by providing a detection unit for detecting that the pen 101 has deviated from the character input area 1000, a line input to the character input area 1000 is converted into a character in real time, and the character font is displayed on the screen. May be displayed.

By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to input while confirming that a map as text is completed, and even if a map is not created as desired, only that part can be used. Can be fixed immediately. As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, when creating a map based on a text document, a series of lines such as roads and railways can be continuously input with a pointing device, so that the map can be created quickly and easily. .

The present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), but it can be applied to a single device (for example, a copier, a facsimile). Device). Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus to store the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the program.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk,
A CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an information processing apparatus and method capable of quickly and easily creating a map when expressing a map composed of text by combining special symbols and characters such as ruled lines.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map created only with fonts of symbols and characters.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a map written in graphics.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view when focusing on an input area of a character input area for one character.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view when attention is paid to a line displayed in a character input area for one character.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing correspondence between inputtable line types and values stored in a memory;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a memory map for storing information of a line input to each character input area.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a graphic represented by the state of the memory in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a list of special symbols converted corresponding to lines in each direction.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing executed in the embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Pen 102 Digitizer 103 Display 104 Keyboard 105 Mouse 106 Input I / F 107 CPU 108 HDD 109 Network I / F 110 Display I / F 111 Memory 112 CD-ROM 113 Network 114 System bus 1 Coordinate input unit 2 Character input area detection unit 3 Menu detection unit 4 Conversion button detection unit 5 Map data creation unit 6 Memory storage unit 7 Text conversion unit 8 Code output unit 9 Text document output unit 10 Map figure display unit

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for creating a map represented by a font indicated by a character code, comprising: storage means for storing a correspondence table in which character codes are associated with the map components; Creating means for creating a map by using, and output means for referring to the correspondence table, converting the constituent elements of the map created by the creating means into a font indicated by a character code corresponding to the constituent element, and outputting the converted font. An information processing apparatus comprising: 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the components of the map include at least a track, a road, an intersection, a building, and a place name. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the creating unit has a drawing area for drawing a map, and inputs a desired component of the map to the drawing area to create a map. 2. The information processing device according to 1. 4. The drawing area is divided into predetermined unit areas, and the creating unit creates a map by inputting components of the map for each of the predetermined unit areas. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a component of the map input to the predetermined unit area corresponds to one character code. 6. An information processing method for creating a map represented by a font indicated by a character code, comprising: a creation step of creating a map using map components; and a character code corresponding to the map components. An output step of converting the constituent elements of the map created by the creating means into fonts indicated by character codes corresponding to the constituent elements and outputting the converted fonts with reference to the correspondence table. Method. 7. The information processing method according to claim 6, wherein the components of the map include at least a track, a road, an intersection, a building, and a place name. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the creating step includes a drawing area for drawing a map, and a desired map component is input to the drawing area to create a map. 7. The information processing method according to item 6. 9. The drawing area is divided into predetermined unit areas, and the creating step creates a map by inputting the components of the map for each of the predetermined unit areas. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein 10. The information processing method according to claim 9, wherein a component of the map input to the predetermined unit area corresponds to one character code. 11. A computer readable memory storing a program code for information processing for creating a map represented by a font indicated by a character code, wherein the program code is for a creating step for creating a map using constituent elements of the map. With reference to a correspondence table in which character codes are associated with the map components, the map components created by the creation unit are converted into fonts indicated by the character codes corresponding to the components and output. A computer readable memory comprising: a program code for an output step.